Innovative Artists Entertainment has received a strategic investment from Los Angeles-based private equity firm Coral Tree Partners. Coral Tree takes a minority stake in the agency, which will continue to be led by Innovative Founder and CEO Scott Harris and his management team. The investment from Coral Tree will help accelerate the Innovative Artists Entertainment’s expansion by enhancing the resources to support its agents and a growing roster of talent.
Harris and Coral Tree Founder and Partner Will Wynperle announced the deal today, which is designed to provide the agency with additional resources to further the company’s growth opportunities and expansion.
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Also, the company has rebranded the agency’s existing Innovative Artists brands under a singular, unified entity as Innovative Artists Entertainment.
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Said Harris, “I have been proud to lead our agency through these decades as a competitive, independent talent agency.” Harris continued, “We have always navigated the ever-evolving entertainment business, whether against the backdrop of a pandemic, multiple work stoppages, or the technological and creative progress of our industry. Our partnership with Will and the team at Coral Tree represents the next step in enabling us to continue to grow with maximum momentum and invigoration, while continuing to focus on our core mission of providing exceptional client service.”
Said Wynperle, “We are grateful to be entering into a true strategic relationship with Innovative at the agency’s exciting growth stage. We have long admired Innovative’s unwavering commitment to client representation and are grateful to partner closely with Scott and the agency’s senior management team. Together, we look forward to driving growth while keeping the focus on client representation first and foremost with an eye on 360-degree client service. At this time of unprecedented demand for premium content, Innovative is uniquely poised for long-term success.”
Founded in 1982 by Harris and Howard Goldberg before being rebranded as Innovative Artists in 1992, the bi-coastal agency boasts a rich and diverse roster of clients in the Talent, Literary, Production, Unscripted, Comedy, Appearance, Broadcast, Voiceover, Commercial, and Endorsement areas.
Coral Tree Partners is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on investing in lower middle-market companies within the media, entertainment and communication sectors.
Innovative Artists Entertainment was advised by Houlihan Lokey and Sheppard Mullin. Coral Tree was advised by Kirkland & Ellis.